


His First Big Check

by FollowMyLead



Series: Pepperwood's Rise to Fame [2]
Category: New Girl
Genre: Established Relationship, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Friendship, Implied Sexual Content, Love, Romance, Secrets, The Pepperwood Chronicles
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-19
Updated: 2020-10-19
Packaged: 2021-03-09 02:20:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,488
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27107116
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FollowMyLead/pseuds/FollowMyLead
Summary: The back is blank, but the front writes Pay to the order of Nicholas Miller. Nick takes a few moments to himself to really process that it’s truly his and nobody knows about it but him. He could do whatever he wants with the money.He doesn’t know why he lied, and if he doesn’t excuse himself now, his tells will give him away.
Relationships: Coach (New Girl) & Nick Miller, Jessica Day & Nick Miller, Jessica Day/Nick Miller, Nick Miller/Schmidt (New Girl)
Series: Pepperwood's Rise to Fame [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1965898
Comments: 7
Kudos: 34





	His First Big Check

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by Where the Road Goes (7x4). Another Pepperwood event in their lives I wish we got to see.

Nick Miller can’t complain about the way his life has taken a turn in the past two years. The Pepperwood Chronicles started to sell in bookstores across the U.S. and it has gained quite a bit of notoriety. He’s in love with his best friend and is in a committed relationship with her. He got to watch Schmidt become a father and Winston marry the love of his life.

The author silently thanks whatever god there is and continues his walk. When he spent the summer in New Orleans, he learned that strolling through the city often helped clear his writer’s block. Now he continues the same strategy as he writes the second installment of Pepperwood. Sometimes Jess will tag along, and occasionally, he’ll make a pit-stop to visit Tran.

He rounds the corner to his building and enters the lobby. He makes way towards the elevator, but decides at last minute to check the mailbox, instead. There are only a few pieces of mail to grab; Jess is normally on top of checking when she comes home from school. Nick takes the elevator up and doesn’t bother looking at any of it. They are normally bills anyway, and although he got better at paying them, he still doesn’t _like_ to.

While making his way to 4D, an envelope falls out of the stack. He notices it’s addressed to him with **DO NOT THROW AWAY** stamped in bold on the front. Nick enters the apartment and throws the rest of the mail on the side table. He stares at the mysterious envelope trying to figure out what it could be before he decides to open something he may deeply regret. Curiosity gets the best of him and he rips the seams and pulls out a rectangular, frail piece of paper. The back is blank, but the front writes **_Pay to the order of Nicholas Miller two hundred and twenty-four thousand dollars_** with the publishing house’s signature at the bottom.

Nick’s eyes grow the size of saucers. His jaw drops, and for a moment, he forgets how to breathe. His head whips around to see if anyone is actually seeing this. The loft is still. “Jess,” he shouts and waits for her to emerge from either of the loft’s directions. When no one comes, he searches their bedroom, the guest room and, in the off chance, his office. He holds onto the check with a tight grip as if it might vanish from his hands. “Jessica!” He shouts again making his way to the other side of the loft. After he sees that she’s not in her craft room, he spots a note on the kitchen island.

_Went to see Cece and the baby. Xoxo, Jess._

He retrieves his phone and goes to dial Jess to tell her the amazing news, but he stops himself. He puts his phone back in his pocket and slowly lowers himself on one of the stools. It dawns on Nick that he’s never had this much money before. There was the time he almost won as much in Vegas, but he became too confident and blew it. Nick takes a few moments to himself to really process that it’s truly his and nobody knows about it but him. He could do whatever he wants with the money. The adrenaline courses through his veins. He starts to imagine everything he can buy, and he immediately wants to go to the mall again. He could use an updated fancy portrait of himself for his office…

On the contrary, there’s so much he _should_ do with it. He should be responsible. He has a future to think about, and more importantly, there’s someone in his future that he should consider. Even _more importantly_ , he wants to bring more people into the world with her and he should think about their futures. Nick’s dad made money (sometimes in unconventional ways), but he would spend it just as fast. He hardly considered his wife and kids’ needs. Nick never wanted his own family to feel the uncertainty that he did growing up.

The check starts to feel like a heavy weight in his hand.

He quickly recovers its original envelope and stuffs it back in its place. Then he walks it to his office and puts it in the crevasse of a random book he’s never read (solely there for décor and to make it look like he reads great literature). The writer closes his office door and plops himself on the brown leather couch. For what feels like hours, he stares at the closed door and tries to resist temptation to have a little fun with it. “ _I earned it, I should be able to spend it how I want,”_ he tells himself as he gets up and goes for the office. “ _But Jess would be upset if I wasn’t responsible with it,”_ he argues as he turns back to the couch. Nick repeats this process three more times. He’s in the middle of retreating back to the couch when Jess enters the loft with an armful of groceries.

“Hey, Miller!” She meets him in the middle of the entry and greets him with a kiss. “How was your walk? Did you clear up any confusion?”

Nick quietly laughs at the painful irony. “Um, not quite. I guess it didn’t work this time.”

“Oh. Well what if I made you your favorite dinner tonight? I picked up the ingredients on the way home.” Nick nods in excitement. He loves a good lasagna anywhere, but nobody has ever topped Jess’s. “I saw you picked up the mail,” she gestures to the side table with her free arm. “Anything good?”

Nick doesn’t answer right away. This is his moment to tell her that she doesn’t have to go back to school next year if she doesn’t want to. Or that they could finally take that trip to tour France. _Or_ Nick can get that motorcycle he’s always wanted- even though everyone tells him he can’t pull it off.

He’s pulled out of his thoughts when Jess calls his name.

“Huh?”

“I asked if there was any good mail.” She says unpacking the groceries in the kitchen.

“Uhh, no. Just the usual: bills, catalogues and Chinese takeout menus.”

He doesn’t know why he lied, and if he doesn’t excuse himself now, his tells will give him away. “I’m going to head to the roof to see what kind of inspiration I can find there.” For the time being, Nick decides he will just hold onto the check until he can decide what to do.

\----

Nick is behind his desk at The Griffin totaling this month’s expenses. When writing became his full-time job, he and Schmidt hired a new manager for the bar. She would normally take care of this stuff, but called out sick today. Nick originally welcomed the mind-numbing distraction of handling the numbers, but he quickly realized that it just reminds him of the six-digit weight sitting in his home.

It has only been three days since he received the check. So far, he’s done a decent job of keeping his own secret and he’s only been acting _a_ _little_ funny around Jess.

He takes a break when the numbers start to looks like hieroglyphs. While he nurses a whiskey in his hand, the co-owner starts to consider what he should do with the bar. He and Schmidt started talking about selling The Griffin after a pipe burst and both of them had to interrupt their busy days to handle it. The bar holds a very special place in his heart, but he also knows he’s gradually moving on to a new chapter. Nick’s thought gets interrupted when his phone rings and a picture of Coach wearing a crystal around his neck appears on the screen.

“Hey, what’s up Coach?”

“Hey Best Young-Adult Author in the World!” Coach says with his pitch just a little too high.

Nick immediately knows something is up. “What do you want?”

“What, I can’t just call my BEST FRIEND to see how his life is going?”

“You can. But that’s not why you’re calling. So why don’t you stop wasting both of our times and tell me what you need.” Nick says only a little annoyed that the first call he gets from Coach in months is because he wants something.

Coach finally resorts back to his regular octave and explains. “I wanted to run this idea by you.”

“Oh, sure,” Nick drops his guard. “What’s on your mind?”

“I think it’d be really great if I opened a place called Coach’s Jim” the trainer says excitedly.

“That’s awesome, man! It’s about time you opened your own place to get people ripped.”

“Yeah, uh-huh.” Coach says a little too quickly. “I already found a location, and the owner gave me a really good deal. I would be able to buy the place with my own money, but that’s where you come in…” Coach continues to explain to Nick that after he buys the place, the trainer will only have enough to cover the renovations of the worn building. He tells Nick that this would be a great investment opportunity for him and that he’d see his return on investment right away.

Nick abruptly remembers that no one else knows about his latest earnings.

“Coach, how do you know I have money?” Nick quiets his voice as if someone was listening on the other side of the door.

“Jess went on and on about how your book started selling in other states, and I just figured you could probably afford to invest.”

Nick visualizes a talkative Jess on the phone proudly telling all her friends about the growing success of his book. She’s always been his personal cheerleader. A small smile grows on his face, but it quickly drops when he remembers his dilemma and dishonesty. The tightness in his chest returns. He needs to make a decision soon.

He takes a moment to weigh the pros and cons, and ultimately decides this will be good for him _and Jess_ in the long run.

“I’m in. How much do you need?”

\-----

Nick had to make the payments in two, because the bank wouldn’t let him wire transfer all seventy-one thousand dollars at once. Coach offered to have contracts drawn up, but Nick said it wouldn’t be necessary because they’re friends and he’s confident this will be a hit.

He feels a little more relieved knowing some of his money went to a good investment. After taking a few days of hard deliberation, he ultimately decides to tell his girlfriend about the check.

He ponders different ways to tell her. He could present her with two plane tickets to anywhere she wants, or he could simply just tell her in conversation. He doesn’t know why he’s overthinking it. This is Jess he’s talking about. She doesn’t need anything extravagant, but he still tries to make her feel like a queen.

Nick decides to take her to dinner. It’s not Los Angeles’s most expensive restaurant, but it’s one of the finer five-star ones. He tells her he made reservations and to put on one of her fanciest dresses. “Like, even fancier than the dress Prince gave you.”

He puts on his nicest gray suit. After Socalyolcon VI, Schmidt took him shopping for a couple of suits of his own, claiming he needed to look like an established author. He wasn’t into it at all until he saw himself in a deep navy-blue suit that fit him perfectly. Nick finalized the outfit with a pair of cufflinks Jess gifted him after he sold his first one-hundred copies, and her favorite tie that she likes to take off at the end of the night.

Jess walks out of their bedroom wearing a royal purple satin dress with a matching wrap hanging off of her arms. Her silver, sparkled wedges complement the silver earrings. His jaw hits the floor. Her cheeks quickly become a new shade of red as she smiles back at him. Everything that Nick wants to say gets caught in his throat, so he just stands up and kisses her deeply. They stay like that until they both run out of air. Each of them release a nervous giggle like it’s their first date and he offers her his arm, escorting her out of the loft.

At the restaurant, conversation flows naturally. They hardly run out of things to talk about, and when they do, it’s a comfortable silence. Then Nick recalls the reason he brought her and he gets nervous again. _Stay cool, Nick. It’s only Jess. She loves you no matter what._ At least now he knows she’s not a gold digger he chuckles to himself, remembering the time he accused her of being one and what _almost_ followed. Nick’s brought out of his thoughts when Jess asks him what he’s laughing about.

“Remember when I called you a gold digger? Well now you can be!”

“What are you talking about?” her voice piqued.

Nick has to backtrack quick. “I’m not _calling_ you a gold digger. I’m just saying you _can_ be if you wanted to…now.” She stares at him blankly, but her eyes disclose that she’s unamused.

“It’s just- When you-“ He clears his throat and decides to scratch the joke entirely. He makes a mental note that it’s still a sensitive topic “I’m just trying to say that I came into some money recently.”

“What kind of money?” Jess asks, deciding to drop the poor joke-attempt and move on.

“Like we-can-take-that-trip-to-France-in-a-five-star-hotel-money,” he leans a little closer so only she could hear.

Her eyes somehow double in size and she leans back on her chair. While she processes the information, Nick takes this as his chance to finish coming clean.

“There’s something else.” Her eyes whip back up from the table to meet his. “I’ve had this money for the past month and I didn’t want to tell you about it,” he says in one rapid breath.

Nick sees a flash of hurt in her eyes, and he instantly regrets everything he’s done this month.

“Why not?” her voice dejected.

“I don’t know what to do with the money. I’ve been going back and forth for weeks trying to decide if I should spend it, or save it, or invest it. Then, I got to thinking about the year we lived in a van and I promised myself I wouldn’t let that happen to _our_ kids and it just got to be too much. So I hid it and I’m so sorry I lied, Jess.”

Jess’s eyes softened a little when she heard him mention their future children. They both know they want the same things, but the Kids conversation has only come up twice since they got back together. She didn’t know that her boyfriend actively thinks about that.

He anxiously waits for her response. She takes another moment to consider his honesty. She knows Nick is trying to be more responsible; and his actions weren’t ill-intentioned. She also forgets that sometimes he shuts down when he feels stressed, unlike her.

“What are you going to buy?” Jess finally asks, deciding to forgive and forget.

Nick releases a sigh of relief and lets his shoulders drop.

“You think I should buy something?” He asks, in disbelief that she wasn’t angrier with him. He reaches across the table and takes her hand, staring into her ocean-blue eyes. “I don’t know. What do you get a man who has everything?” He meant it to be genuine, but after a moment they both break into laughter at the cheesiness of it all.

\----

The valet attendant pulls around the corner with Jess’s car. He hands the keys to Nick who holds out the keys to Jess. He’s driven her car hundreds of times, but he doesn’t like to drive it without her permission. She shakes her head to signal he can drive. He tips the attendant and opens the door for her.

They’re quiet on the road- well somewhat, as Jess hums a tune to herself. Nick thinks about the valet attendant’s bewildered face when he learned it wasn’t Nick’s car. The pair takes Nick’s vehicle about half the time, but he didn’t want to take his old beater to a high-end restaurant tonight.

“Maybe I’ll get a new car,” he says to no one in particular.

Jess turns to him and smiles, “I think that’s a great idea.”

They go to a car dealership the following week. Jess makes suggestions along the way while the salesman follows them and echoes that every choice they make is the “best choice” so he can get the sale. Nick has never had the opportunity to buy a new vehicle and he feels slightly overwhelmed. Jess whispers to him to take his time, and occasionally reminds him that they don’t have to buy one today. She even suggests test driving a few sports cars, because he earned it and he should pick a car that he loves.

“It’s not really my style. Besides, you can’t fit a car seat in those narrow backseats.”

There he goes again considering their non-existent children. She wonders when he started thinking about this stuff. She smiles as she imagines two siblings arguing in the backseat as Jess turns around to intervene from the passenger seat, while Nick is telling her to make it stop so he can concentrate on the road. (Nobody ever said families were perfect).

The salesman overhears his comment and shows them some sizable family-friendly options. He eventually picks out a sensible, white sedan, but he let himself splurge on one of the more luxurious brands. The car is this year’s model and it has a leather interior, Bluetooth, and a touch-screen navigation system- an enormous upgrade from his old car- but he’s most excited about the working AC.

\----

He’s been the proud owner of the new car for a month, and he hasn’t touched the money since. Jess convinces him to at least put it in the bank in case some meth heads break in and find the check in its hiding place. She doesn’t pressure him to spend or save it one way or another. It’s his and he should do with it as he sees fit, she explained to him. They were living comfortably before with the combination of her middle school principal salary, the money Nick collects from the bar, in addition to his book sales. Nothing has changed.

Nick tries to check in with Coach to get a progress update on Coach’s Jim, but he is being really vague, and it doesn’t sound like things are looking up. He still hasn’t told Jess about his investment. Now, he doesn’t want to at the risk of losing her because he made a dumb decision with money again.

One day Schmidt drags Nick to a jewelry shop to help him pick out a gift for his and Cece’s anniversary. They browse the necklaces, earrings and bracelets, but at some point, Nick finds himself by the engagement rings while Schmidt talks with the jeweler about a necklace. He hadn’t had any intention of proposing to Jess anytime soon. They both know they are happy taking their relationship day-by-day this time around. But the more he thinks about it, the more he asks himself _why not?_ Nick is undoubtably sure that there’s no other woman for him. Plus, he can afford to get one **today**.

He scrutinizes the rings looking for something unique and special, just like her. There are so many options to consider- square, oval or diamond shaped, not to mention the color of the bands and how many carats they have. “ _This is the biggest flaw of having money: you have too many options,”_ he internally yells. Schmidt eventually makes his way over to him and pats him on the shoulder. Nick stands straight to meet his eyes and Schmidt subtly raises his eyebrows as to say “ _I know what you’re thinking.”_ Nick only presses his lips together and shakes his head. None of these were _her_ ring _._

He spots a simple, heart-shaped locket, instead. They make their purchases and exit the store. Neither of them brings up any talk about him proposing. Although Schmidt can be overly nosy at times, he knows Nick can’t be pressured into this type of thing. Though Nick has a small inkling that planting the seed was Schmidt’s plan all along.

He finally tells his friend about the check over lunch. As expected, Schmidt overreacts nearly jumping out of his chair and demands why he didn’t tell him sooner. “We are a team. I took you to your first meeting with your publisher!” Nick lets his old roommate express his (melodramatic) frustrations before he explains himself. He describes his inner turmoil and inability to decide what to do as he rubs his hands through his hair.  
  


“Have a little fun with it. We can finally take that boy’s trip to Japan!” Schmidt offers.

“But that’s my problem- I don’t think I know how much fun is too much fun. After Jess convinced me to put my dead-dad money in the bank, it only took me _two_ months to blow through the rest of it. I already wasted seventy-one thousand dollars on Coach!” Nick internally slapped himself **hard** for letting that slip.

“You gave Coach SEVENTY-ONE THOUSAND DOLLARS?!” Schmidt projects a little too loudly, causing the surrounding eaters to shoot accusatory stares.

“This is what I’m saying, I don’t know how to be responsible with it! And you cannot tell Cece, because Jess doesn’t know and she can never know unless I want to lose her again.”

Schmidt sees the desperation in his best friend’s eyes from the mere thought of repeating his past. “Okay. I won’t tell her. But if you think Jess would break up with you again, I’d say you’re trippin’, man.”

Schmidt has always been good with his money. “ _Maybe it’s the Jew thing,”_ Nick considers. He advises Nick that he should definitely put some into a retirement account and consider diversifying his portfolio. “Well, start with creating a portfolio, because we both know that this is your first time hearing about one.

After their conversation, the author feels a little lighter. He slightly regrets keeping it from his best friend for so long. He forgets that, despite his douchebag persona during his twenties, Schmidt was always good at making the responsible, adult decisions. He gives Nick the card to his financial advisor and drops him off back at the loft- but not before pulling Nick back into a tight bear-hug.

\----

Nick and Jess laze on the couch, their belly’s stuffed from another one of Jessica Day’s infamous meals. They half-mindedly watch some nature documentary about fish that Nick turned on. He said the narrator’s accent and watching the fish glide through the water relaxes him. Jess goes along with it, not really paying attention, instead focusing on his heartbeat under her ear while her head rests on his chest.

The documentary cuts to a jewelry commercial, which suddenly reminds him of her gift. “Oh, I got something for you! Wait here.” he says, quickly slipping out from under Jess, and drops her head to the cushion before she can blink. Nick returns from his office holding a rectangular black box in his hand.

“What’s this?” she asks, now sitting up, and apprehensively accepts the box from his hand.

Nick drops back down next to her. “Just something to show how much you mean to me.”

Jess holds his stare for a second longer, then turns her attention back to the box. She slowly opens it and raises the silver locket out of its carrier. Her eyes are filled with adoration and they manage to outshine the necklace, if that’s possible. Nick delicately takes it from her hands and opens the locket.

“I added the photo of us walking down the aisle at Schmidt and Cece’s wedding. It’s one of my favorites.”

She gazes at the photo. That was the day that she realized she never _actually_ stopped loving him. Everything seemed so complicated back then; she loved him, he liked Reagan, then he flew to New Orleans with her. And at the time, it felt like he would never love her back. She can still remember the pain and hopelessness she felt that year, if she concentrates. Just as she thought she needed to officially move on from him, he surprised her and told his best friend he still loved her too.

“Jess?” Nick squeaks. She snaps out of her daze and sees that, based on the small beads of sweat on his forehead, she was quiet a little too long.

All of her feelings hit her at once. She grasps his neck and kisses him deep. “I love it,” she whispers, resting her head on his. Nick releases the breath he was holding. He helps her put on the necklace and she turns and pulls his lips to hers again. He lets himself fall back on the couch, taking her with him while never breaking their kiss.

Later in bed, with the sheets wrapped around them, Nick tells her about Schmidt’s advice. She listens intently, never diverting her attention.

“Is that what you want to do?”

“Yeah. I think it could be good for us in the long run- you know, for our future.”

Jess takes his hand in hers. “Nicholas, I know you’ve been working hard to be better with money, and you’ve been doing **so** great. I just… I just don’t want you to forget how to enjoy it either. You can have _some fun_ with it. And I know you don’t want our family to go through what you did, but I have no doubts that you will always provide. We’re good. I promise,” she squeezes his hand for emphasis.

He releases her fingers and raises his hand to her new necklace, then rubs his thumb over it as if he was touching the embedded photo. It follows the path down her left arm to her hand, settling on her fingers. His thumb caresses the finger that he almost bought a ring for. Nick mulls over her words. He wants a lifetime with her. He wants to give her everything she wants. But she doesn’t ask for much- she just wants him. And he knows that as long as she’ll have him, he can give her that.

“Okay, maybe _some_ fun. Pepperwood still has more cases to solve, and if I save the money now, we can have amazing family vacations down the road.”

“Then I guess we better get working on that, Miller.” Jess crashes her lips into his again.

Nick wraps his arms around her and pulls her close. _Besides, I have everything I need right here_.


End file.
